In the SwimSwam Podcast dive deeper into the sport you love with insider conversations about swimming. Hosted by Coleman Hodges, Garrett McCaffrey, and Gold Medal Mel Stewart, SwimSwam welcomes both the biggest names in swimming that you already know, and rising stars that you need to get to know, as we break down the past, present, and future of aquatic sports.
We sat down with Lilly King, the newest world champion in the 200 breast. King describes in vivid detail how she realized she had COVID just days after the world trials in Greensboro and subsequently had to take a week out of the pool completely. Throughout most of her career King has had easy speed, but getting back into the water this time it was her endurance that felt the most honed in.
Moving through the championships, King found peace with where she was at, taking pride in placing a narrow 4th in the 100 breast and beating 1 competitor in the final of the 50 breast to take 7th. A strange sensation for Lilly, the 200 was where she felt the most confidence in Budapest. King describes her strategy for that final as “I was trying to out-race everybody”.
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Music: Otis McDonald
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Opinions, beliefs and viewpoints of the interviewed guests do not necessarily reflect the opinions, beliefs, and viewpoints of the hosts, SwimSwam Partners, LLC and/or SwimSwam advertising partners.
That section about the captains and her mindset after setbacks was pretty powerful. She won me over. Not the same woman we saw in Rio.
We do not care
And you don’t care enough to click into this post, enter a comment, username and email address, and hit “post.”
This guy doesn’t care at all and in fact is laughing!!
POV: you are watching the queen of the 100 breaststroke slowly getting dethroned by the rest of the world.
What I’m curious about is if she had Covid so close to Worlds, how did she escape the testing and quarantine protocol? Even if she was mostly recovered before the first day of the meet, the virus lingers long enough in the body to be detectable.
The virus CAN linger long enough to the body to be detectable.
It doesn’t necessarily.
If you’re right, then she really shouldn’t have been using Covid as an excuse.
If 10 days out of training three weeks before the start of a meet isn’t a reason for performance to suffer, then everything that every coach I ever had ever told me was a lie.
She said it was a week, not ten days. And based on the time frame she provided, she was out in mid-May. So she was back in the pool at least 3-4 weeks before the meet with minimal taper.
You seem completely unaware that the covid inflammatory process can effect a person’s heart, lungs, and entire body for weeks to months after having it. She was able to get back into the competition mode because she was in great shape. She is smart to take the summer off and let her body get over covid.
Have you heard of long COVID? The effects of COVID can linger long after the virus no longer shows up on a test.
Doesn’t even have to be long covid. Obviously getting sick can have impacts even after the initial illness is gone. RCP is just being a jerk.
Or they could have a proof of past infection exemption?
Sometimes people shed enough virus REMNANTS for a few weeks that they will test ANTIGEN positive but they are not infectious.
Covid honestly doesn’t hurt people who are this in shape.. I mean we are talking pro swimmers! Glad she is doing well but I dont think it is appropriate to make this a big deal and scare people
I understand that a segment of the population is desperate to feel like they were ‘right’ about COVID and their decisions regarding it all along, but a number of swimmers withdrew from the World Championships because of the impact of COVID, so what you’re saying is simply not true.
It’s correct that on a population level, the Omicron variant kills people in this segment/demographic at a much lower rate than 1) prior variants, and 2) than older demographics, but that doesn’t mean that they’re immune from complications. Afterall, you’re more likely to win an Olympic medal with asthma than without it these days. Olympians might not always be as “healthy” as they seem.
Just… Read more »
Half of that segment could have died from COVID and the other half would still be insisting they were correct all along
Didn’t Ella Eastin have to retire essentially due to the effects of long COVID?
She had autonomic dysfunction believed to have been caused by Covid but there are other causes as well. She did develop the autonomic dysfunction after having Covid so it does seem that is the likely cause.
This Olympic Champion wouldn’t agree with that sweeping generalization
https://beta.ctvnews.ca/local/london/2021/4/24/1_5400884.html
Just going to leave this here: https://swimswam.com/brazilian-teen-died-from-covid-19-complications-after-being-cleared-competing/
Could not disagree more with this statement. There are women’s pro basketball players that have long haul Covid and are fighting just to walk – same thing with women’s hockey players. We don’t know near enough about Covid to make sweeping statements like who it impacts and doesn’t.
Cycling great Peter Sagan effectively lost the whole Spring Classics season plus the Giro this year due to long Covid. It’s a bar argument over whether swimmers or pro cyclists have higher fitness levels.
Say what you want about her, but you have to admire her resilience. To lay an unexpected brick in the 100 at Tokyo and then come back with a terrific 200, and now this comeback for the 200 and a critical split on the women’s medley relay. Most people who were a second slower than their best time in a 50, probably would’ve scratched the 200. Hell, one guy swam a 50 and won and scratched the rest of the meet.
Yes she is a tough competitor.